TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

[TexasStooge]

Spanish Town Hosts Big Blind Date Party

By BEATRIZ ALVAREZ, Associated Press Writer

VILLAFRECHOS, Spain - A small town on the northern plains of Spain held a large-scale blind date party on Saturday to help its many single men find potential mates.

Concerned that the population of rural Villafrechos will dwindle, Mayor Miguel Angel Gomez threw his support behind the local initiative, inviting women through an advertising campaign to gather at the regional city of Valladolid.

It began as the idea of local inn keeper Teresa Canal. "There are too many bachelors here, we had to try and find them brides," she said.

About 100 women showed up, and were taken by two busses to Villafrechos, population 540, where some 60 men escorted them to lunch.

"We've been organizing this since November," Gomez said. "The youngest is 24 and the oldest 68."

The women were then invited to see the town's highlights, including an artisan cheese-making facility and a football field where some of the men hoped to impress with their soccer skills.

"It's a lovely and exciting experience," said Irene Velasco, 45, a Madrid hotel worker. "I haven't come here to look for a mate, rather to meet new people and have a good time."

Tomas Infestas, a 57-year-old retired carpenter, said the women were gorgeous. "I want to find a partner, I'm lonely," he said.

The mayor said the registry office would be kept open over the weekend, in case any couples found love and wanted to marry.

[TexasStooge]

Bogus Noble Is Missing American, Kin Say

By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer

LONDON, England - A mystery detainee who allegedly created a bogus identity as an English nobleman by assuming the name of a dead baby is actually an American who went missing from Florida more than 20 years ago, his relatives say.

The man being held in a jail in Kent, England, goes by the title of the Earl of Buckingham but he is really an Orlando native named Charles Stopford, his father, Charles, and sister Rebecca Davis say in a documentary to be broadcast Sunday on Sky One television.

The relatives said they saw photos of the fake lord on the Internet along with a story in The Times this week and concluded he is Stopford.

"When I first saw his photo, I cried and I was excited because I was 100 percent positive it was him," Davis said in an excerpt of the documentary aired Saturday.

The elder Stopford said he has no idea why his son suddenly vanished from Florida in 1983.

But one of the man's brothers, Wesley, told The Times that the detainee had been convicted that same year of possessing explosives after he tried to blow up the car of his boss at a fast-food restaurant in Orlando. He was put on probation but spent 60 days in jail after he violated the terms. Shortly after that, he disappeared.

"Charles always had an obsession with the English," his father said.

Davis said she had believed Stopford was simply traveling around Europe all these years.

"I remember him saying that he loved the thought of traveling. He wanted to travel Europe," she said.

British media have dubbed the man "The Real Jackal" — an allusion to Frederick Forsyth's novel "The Day of the Jackal," which made famous the trick of using information from a baby's tombstone to create an identity.

In this case, the detainee was arrested in January 2005 as he tried to enter Dover, England, from Calais, France, across the English Channel. Police ran a passport check and saw that the person with his name was supposed to be dead, The Times said.

He is alleged to have taken the name of Christopher Buckingham, who died in 1963 at the age of 8 months, and used it to obtain documents to live as a British subject.

For the past decade he has been calling himself the Earl of Buckingham, a title that has been extinct for more than 300 years, The Times said.

The man served nine months in prison over the false passport incident. But after completing the sentence, he has remained in jail because he refuses to reveal his true identity, the paper said.

"As far as we are concerned, he still claims to be Christopher Buckingham," Kent police spokeswoman Kelly Betts said.

The fake earl apparently speaks with a perfect British accent, she added.

He has two English children by a woman he is now divorced from, and all three are said to be stupefied by news that he is not the man they thought he was.

The Times said police in Kent have sent fingerprint and DNA samples to the United States to try to determine the man's identity.

Police spokeswoman Betts said she could not confirm this. She did say British authorities were working with American embassy officials to determine whether the man really is Stopford.

"We are following up a number of leads to find out who he is," she said.

[TexasStooge]

N.J. Scraps 2nd Slogan in Less Than Year

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey: We're Not So Good With Slogans.

The state has jettisoned "Come See For Yourself," its second attempt at a tagline in less than a year. It was the product of a statewide contest set up by then-acting Gov. Richard J. Codey last fall, after he rejected a consultant's offering: "We'll Win You Over."

State tourism officials said legal issues led them to scrap the latest slogan, explaining that West Virginia and other states previously used "Come See For Yourself."

"We are proceeding without the slogan. We will revisit the next steps at the end of the year," Karen Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission, told The Press of Atlantic City for Saturday editions.

Codey, now state Senate president, dismissed "We'll Win You Over" because he said it reminded him too much of when he was single and asked girls out on a date.

"Come See For Yourself" was the top choice among more than 11,000 telephone and online votes cast by residents for five finalist entries in the contest. Codey unveiled the slogan with great fanfare in January, saying the Garden State's catch phrase "should hint at our true beauty."

But at an annual tourism conference in Cape May County last month, the slogan was absent from all state promotional materials. The slogan is also missing from this year's tourism television commercials, featuring a song by rocker Jon Bon Jovi.

Tourism officials said they won't pick from any of the four other finalists: "Love at First Sight," "The Real Deal," "The Best Kept Secret" or "Expect the Unexpected."

[TexasStooge]

"Celebrity" parking meters will warn about thieves

LONDON, England (Reuters) - Talking parking meters that use well known catch-phrases of celebrities to warn motorists about the dangers posed by thieves have been introduced in Sheffield.

Voiced by a mimic, the likes of England football captain David Beckham, film star Michael Caine and TV presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Rolf Harris will each have a distinct message.

Superintendent Mick Webster of South Yorkshire Police said the idea to have celebrity voice-overs came about after early talking messages were deemed too boring.

"Initially we had talking parking meters, but after a while the message became repetitive and people didn't listen to it, so we came up with an idea that will get people to take note," Webster said in a statement.

"The idea is that each celebrity voice has a saying of its own, and we're hoping people will be listening hard, keen to hear all six messages."

Theft from parked cars amounts to millions of pounds each year and police advice is for owners to take care not to leave anything on display. A coat or even a packet of cigarettes is sometimes enough temptation for some thieves.

The celebrities voiced by mimic Stuart Smith are:

David Beckham: "Don't give them chance to score ? don't leave anything on show in your car ? if they can see it they can steal it ? Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

Michael Caine: "Blow the blinkin' doors off! ? there's no need ? they'll just smash the glass ? if they can see it they can steal it ? don't leave anything on show in your car ? Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

David Dickinson: "There are people round here on a bargain hunt ? it's as cheap as chips for them ? if they can see it they can steal it ? Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

Lily Savage: "Eh, watch your hub caps ? and everything else for that matter. Don't leave anything on show in your car ? Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

Jeremy Clarkson: "Nice car ? plenty under the bonnet I'd guess ? I hope there's nothing inside though ? if they can see it they can steal it ? Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

Rolf Harris: "Can you see what it is yet ? don't forget if they can see it they can steal it. Don't leave anything on display in your car. Make it tough ? hide your stuff."

[TexasStooge]

South Koreans show parental love with face lifts

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans traditionally used to say it with flowers or money, but now more are showing love and respect to their parents by giving mum and dad coupons for cosmetic surgery.

Local media has reported a boom in orders this year for botox treatments, face lifts and hair transplants to mark Parents' Day on Monday.

Cosmetic surgery clinics in Seoul said they have been booked solid for weeks with appointments made by children for their parents.

Using surgery to enhance looks is common in South Korea, with few stigmas attached to having procedures done to make eyes rounder, noses more shapely and even calves slimmer.

Many parents pay for cosmetic surgery for their children as a graduation gift and it has become more common in recent years for children to return the favour.

"Appointments for procedures for Parents' Day have increased by over 50 percent from five years ago," said Lim Ee-seok, the president of the Theme Dermatology Clinic, a large cosmetic surgery facility in Seoul.

The most sought-after procedures at the clinic are botox injections, which range from 300,000 won (173 pounds) to 600,000 won and surgery to remove wrinkles.

"Parents who have always sacrificed for their children are now more bold in asking for what they want," the Herald Business newspaper said in a story it carried on the subject.

Lee Shin-ja's children gave her a coupon for laser surgery to remove liver spots from her face.

"I never thought my children would do this," Lee, 62, said by telephone. "I am really happy they did because I look much younger now,"

[TexasStooge]

Kitchen and bedroom blessings offered by vicars

LONDON, England (Reuters) - British homeowners wanting to liven up their sex lives, ward off bathroom germs or calm kitchen rows can now call on God -- or at least his ministers -- for help.

A new service is being offered by vicars in the north of England who give blessings to people moving to a new home.

They will say prayers for each room, calling on divine assistance to protect the home and the health of those in it.

Rev Chris Painter, a vicar in the diocese of Manchester, told Reuters the initiative was designed tempt new people into the church.

"For a large part of the church's history, people have come into the church building," he said. "Nowadays people tend not to come into church so we need to find new ways to meet people."

"This is exactly what Jesus did in his ministry -- he went out to where the people were and he met them there."

Painter said invitation cards would be left in the offices of real-estate agents around the diocese to inform new residents of the free home blessing service.

Individual prayers can be said for every room in the house: For the bedroom, clergy will lay hands on the bed and pray its occupants have a healthy sex life. In the bathroom, they will pray for good health and "give thanks for sanitation."

In the kitchen, the prayer will ask: "O Lord, to all who shall work in this room that, in serving others, they may serve you and share in your perfect service and that in the noise and the clutter of the kitchen they may possess you in tranquility, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

[TexasStooge]

A new wrinkle in gifts for Mom and Dad

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans traditionally used to say it with flowers or money, but now more are showing love and respect to their parents by giving mom and dad coupons for cosmetic surgery.

Local media has reported a boom in orders this year for botox treatments, face lifts and hair transplants to mark Parents' Day Monday.

Cosmetic surgery clinics in Seoul said they have been booked solid for weeks with appointments made by children for their parents.

Using surgery to ehance looks is common in South Korea, with few stigmas attached to having procedures done to make eyes rounder, noses more shapely and even calves slimmer.

Many parents pay for cosmetic surgery for their children as a graduation gift and it has become more common in recent years for children to return the favor.

"Appointments for procedures for Parents' Day have increased by over 50 percent from five years ago," said Lim Ee-seok, the president of the Theme Dermatology Clinic, a large cosmetic surgery facility in Seoul.

The most sought-after procedures at the clinic are botox injections, which range from 300,000 won to 600,000 won ($322 -$645) and surgery to remove wrinkles.

"Parents who have always sacrificed for their children are now more bold in asking for what they want," the Herald Business newspaper said in a story it carried on the subject.

Lee Shin-ja's children gave her a coupon for laser surgery to remove liver spots from her face.

"I never thought my children would do this," Lee, 62, said by telephone. "I am really happy they did because I look much younger now,"

[TexasStooge]

Last American to remember Titanic sinking dies

BOSTON, Mass. (Reuters) - The last American to remember seeing hundreds of fellow passengers drown in the icy North Atlantic when the Titanic sank 94 years ago has died at age 99, a funeral home spokesman said Sunday.

Lillian Gertrud Asplund was returning home to the United States from Sweden with her parents and four brothers when the ship, believed to be "unsinkable," struck an iceberg on April 12, 1912. A U.S. Senate report said 1,523 people were killed.

Asplund died at home, a spokesman for the Nordgren Memorial Chapel, in Worcester, Massachusetts confirmed.

A lifetime resident of Massachusetts, Asplund was an intensely private person who shunned all publicity surrounding the disaster, one of the worst peacetime maritime accidents.

The funeral home spokesman said she instructed relatives to keep quiet about what she saw and even asked that the disaster not be mentioned in her obituary.

The two last Titanic survivors are said to be living in England but both women were infants when they were rescued and have no memories of that night, Titanic experts say.

Asplund lost more than half her family in the accident when her father and three brothers stayed behind as crewmen rushed the young girl, her younger brother and their mother into a lifeboat.

"We went to the upper deck. I could see the icebergs for a great distance around ... It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people ...," Asplund's mother told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in an interview decades ago.

"My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said 'Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.' He smiled as he said it."

Asplund's mother, younger brother and uncle returned to the United States five days after the Titanic sank, the newspaper reported at the time.

Asplund never married, worked as a clerk at an insurance company and spent her life caring for her mother, reported the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which republished her mother's recollections of the disaster Sunday.

[TexasStooge]

Ga. Woman Collects Outhouses for Backyard

APPLING, Ga. - They once were a rural American staple, a necessity for daily life. Today, outhouses are mostly gone — but not if you wander into Janie Peel's backyard. "This is my newest one," she said, gesturing toward a vintage double-seater that was moved in its entirety to her farm.

"It took three men to lift it," she said. "But if we hadn't, it would have been torn down."

Outhouses have always fascinated Peel, an east-Georgia commercial real estate broker who now collects them.

"I can't stand to see old buildings torn down," she said. "But the one thing I can usually rescue without losing friends is the outhouses."

Before plumbing became standard in country homes, outhouses were state-of-the-art facilities.

"Some of them might be 100 years old," Peel said. "But there's no way to know for sure."

Her favorite is an ancient two-holer with a tin roof and crude cedar posts for corners. The rusted metal on one side is peppered with shotgun pellets — just where the occupants would have been sitting.

Peel isn't sure whether the circular pattern of tiny holes is the result of vandalism, assault or perhaps someone's innovative idea to improve ventilation.

"It has a lot of character," she said. "You have to wonder about the conversations that might have taken place in there."

Another is fashioned from hand-hewn pine.

"Notice how the holes are different? Some of them have square holes; this one has hexagonal ones."

Regardless of design, they all reflect the simplicity of yesteryear.

When they were in use, the privies sat atop deep holes that served as makeshift septic tanks. Peel's examples are just for display.

"I saw them a lot when I was growing up in Texas," she said. "As a Campfire Girl, I can even remember using them a few times."

Today, she has three behind her home, with room for a dozen more.

"I've identified two others, but I'm still trying to get permission to get them," she said.

"I've even got one in Texas promised to me, but I'm not sure how I'll get it here."
___

Information from: The Augusta Chronicle

[TexasStooge]

Utah County Infested With Meadow Voles

PROVO, Utah (AP) - Hundreds of small mouse-like creatures known as meadow voles are infesting a Utah county town where rapid growth has inadvertently created a haven for the rodents.

The voles in north Lehi, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, are nesting in cars, climbing into window wells, scurrying down road gutters, running across feet and in general creating havoc. They're coming from empty fields, which used to be plowed and planted every year. Now the property is unused, waiting for development. That creates a problem, said Pat Fugal, Utah State University Extension Service senior horticultural assistant.

"The tilling kills the voles and destroys their habitat, controlling the population," Fugal said.

The brown furry rodents appear to be larger-than-average chubby mice with short tails. They are about six inches long and they do not know the meaning of shy.

"The weird thing is they aren't afraid of you," resident Jill Clemens said. "They totally have run across my feet. They are fat and slow."

She has tried a mice-killing chemical to get rid of the voles, but when some die, others invade her property replacing them.

Her husband, Dave Clemens, rode a minibike into the neighboring field to see if he could figure out where the pests were coming from.

"That entire field is infested with them," he said. "They are not timid. I pick them up with a shovel, bounce them around and chuck them back into the field."

While the fields are untouched, the voles reproduce — rapidly. Voles have 10-12 litters a year with 5-10 young in each litter.

Chris Burningham said she sees seven to eight voles on her property each day and has a neighbor who shoots at the invading voles with his BB gun.

"We called the health department and they said to call animal control," Burningham said, adding that animal control couldn't help them either.

Fugal said zinc phosphide, a poison for voles available at outdoor supply centers, will do the job. There are a few in the area who have already been able to use this method and put a stop to their vole problem.

Scott Sampson found 20 voles dead in the window well of his home. He surfed the Internet to identify the little beasts and went to Intermountain Farmers Association for a cure.

The clerk gave him a topical pellet poison which he used liberally. The result: No more voles.

"We could actually see furrows in our lawn and they were getting in the window wells, from time to time running along the concrete," Sampson said.

And then there are the cat owners who are enjoying an influx of cat "gifts."

"They're doing great. There are dead carcasses everywhere," Danielle Wilson said of her three cats. "I've got one cat that killed eight in one day."
___

Information from: The Daily Herald

[TexasStooge]

Ala. McDonald's to Display Reagan Bust

NORTHPORT, Ala. (AP) - Customers will get more than a burger and fries at the Northport McDonald's where President Reagan chomped down on a Big Mac during a 1984 stop.

They'll get to see a bronze bust of the former president, inside a case with a halogen light shining on it 24 hours a day. Along with a plaque, there's a framed photo showing Reagan biting down on his Big Mac.

"We just felt like we wanted to put something back to carry on that remembrance," said Rick Hanna Sr., the new owner of the fast-food restaurant.

The president's stop at the McDonald's, on Oct. 15, 1984, followed a speech on the University of Alabama campus. With news media on hand, he ordered a Big Mac, large fries and sweet tea and sat down to eat with locals Charles Patterson and Greg Pearson.

A plaque put up by previous owners was often stolen. But when Hanna tore down the old building and renovated, he decided to keep the memory alive, The Tuscaloosa News reported Monday. Atop the case are the words that bring back the historic moment: "President Reagan ate here."
___

Information from: The Tuscaloosa News

[TexasStooge]

Iowa City Fines People Who Feed Stray Cats

CLERMONT, Iowa (AP) - The city isn't going to pussyfoot around when it comes to stray cats. The City Council has decided that anyone who feeds the cuddly creatures are aiding a nuisance.

Mayor Rodney Wagner says police could photograph people who feed stray cats and violators could be sent letters warning them of the consequences and be fined.

Police Chief Arthur Sullivan said people don't understand the problem.

"People find those cats sweet, cuddly and lovable," he said. "It's one of those situations that you're not going to win no matter what you do."

Nonetheless, Sullivan said something needs to be done. The trick will be finding a solution.

"We have people who feed the wild cats and the cats leave something behind," he said. "One guy won't be able to use his hot tub."
___

Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

[TexasStooge]

Teen boys arrested for bank robberies

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Three boys, all under the age of 15, are being investigated for a string of bank robberies in the Vancouver area over the past month and half, police said on Monday.

The boys, who range in age from 13 to 14, were arrested on Saturday in connection with two robberies in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey and may be linked to seven hold-ups in the area, police said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said none of the boys is believed to have a previous criminal record. "They're off to a heck of a start," a police spokesman said.

Two of the boys have been released into their parents' custody, and none can be publicly identified because of their young age.

No weapons were produced in the bank robberies.

[TexasStooge]

Ex-Fire Chief Accused of Setting 9 Fires

MILAN, N.Y. (AP) - A former fire chief in the Hudson Valley was accused Monday of setting nine brush fires in the past three months. Eric Thorley, 47, who led the Milan Fire Department for five years, was charged with nine counts of arson and nine counts of reckless endangerment, according to state police.

Current fire Chief Jeffrey Galm said Thorley was "one of the last people I would ever expect to be involved."

Thorley was a founding member of the fire department and served as a volunteer from 1974 until his arrest.

Suspicious fire officials contacted state police when they noticed the fires were in similar back-road locations.

Milan is about 50 miles south of Albany.
___

Information from: Poughkeepsie Journal

[TexasStooge]

Court sentences cannibal to life for murder

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - A German court Tuesday handed down a life sentence for murder to Armin Meiwes, the German cannibal jailed for killing a man and feeding on his flesh, overturning a previous manslaughter conviction.

Meiwes, 44, was on trial for the second time after Germany's top criminal court ruled his 2004 conviction was too lenient.

Meiwes severed the penis of computer engineer Bernd-Juergen Brandes in a bizarre pact hatched over the Internet. Both men tried to eat the severed organ, but without success. After heavy bleeding, Brandes finally fell unconscious.

Believing him to be dead, Meiwes laid his victim on a bench and plunged a knife into his neck while videotaping what he was doing. He later froze parts of the body and ate some of it.

The Frankfurt court ruling means Meiwes could be eligible for parole after serving a mandatory 15 years in jail.

Last week, prosecutors demanded Meiwes' original eight-year manslaughter sentence be overturned and that he be jailed for life, arguing that he could murder again and this time without his victim's agreement.

Prosecution lawyers argued that Meiwes had killed to satisfy his sexual urges but his defense team said he had acted on his victim's request, a crime similar to euthanasia which in Germany carries a maximum prison term of five years.

During the trial, the court heard how Meiwes made contact with Brandes over the Internet and then met him at his home in the western town of Rotenburg in 2001.

[TexasStooge]

Man buys fighter jet, wants refund

BEIJING, China (Reuters) - A Chinese businessman who bought a Russian fighter jet online wants his money back after finding it could not be shipped to China, state media reported on Tuesday.

Zhang Cheng, a Beijing businessman, bid $24,730 and paid a $2,000 deposit for the former Czech air force plane on Chinese-based eBay, Xinhua news agency said.

But legal experts informed Zhang that the MiG-21, located in Idaho in the United States, was "almost impossible to ship back," Xinhua said, quoting the Beijing Times.

Moreover, the seller had clearly confined the destination of the plane to the United States and Canada, Xinhua quoted a member of eBay's public relations staff as saying.

Chinese Web surfers have accused Zhang of trying to gain fame, but others suggest it merely shows the improved living standards of the Chinese, Xinhua said.

The buyer, however, said he was building a collection.

"I like to collect valuable items," he said. "I have the buying power and my company has an empty space where I can display the plane."

[TexasStooge]

Smelly drivers create a stink in Manila

MANILA (Reuters) - Bus drivers negotiating the sweltering streets of Manila have a new thing to stress about -- their armpits.

Faced with complaints from commuters fed up with the stench at the front of the bus, taxi and train, Manila authorities have reminded drivers to wash and deodorize daily during the heat of the summer.

"We understand that drivers must earn money to support themselves and their respective families," said Bayani Fernando, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. "It is only right that in return, these drivers must observe proper hygiene.

"If they have body odor or armpit odor, ask the advice of doctors for treatment. But I think if they only take a bath every day, and maybe they can use "tawas" or deodorant, then there would be no problem."

Temperatures in the sprawling Philippine capital regularly hit the high 30s Celsius from mid-March to mid-May.

Some of the estimated 30,000 public drivers often strip off to beat the heat but Fernando reminded them to maintain decorum.

"They must also refrain from wearing slippers and shorts," Fernando said.

[TexasStooge]

'Explosive' underwear gift sparks bomb scare

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - Two bags with a note warning they would blow up if opened triggered a bomb alert at a Japanese university -- before explosives experts found they contained women's underwear and a chocolate cake.

Police evacuated Kyushu University's pharmacology department in southern Japan early Tuesday and called in the bomb squad after a staff member found a white paper bag with a note that said "To Yoko, if you open this it will explode" and a pink plastic bag marked "This one too."

The paper bag contained the cake and the plastic bag the underwear, a spokesman for Fukuoka prefectural police said.

Two female students of the department had meant the parcels as a birthday present for a friend, writing the note because they thought it would stop anyone from touching the bags. They left them in the post room Monday night, emailing their friend to tell her to collect them.

The friend, however, forgot.

The police spokesman said the two were being questioned about the incident but it was too early to say if they would be charged.

[TexasStooge]

Sunrise lovers spark suicide fear

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A couple who climbed a suspension bridge in Germany to watch the sunrise sparked a major rescue operation when passers-by mistook their stunt for a suicide bid, police said Monday.

A driver called police after seeing a man sitting on top of the road bridge on the Main river near Frankfurt, and thought the 25-year-old planned to kill himself.

Squad cars, fire engines and a police speedboat with divers rushed to the scene.

"The man and his girlfriend climbed down from the bridge and said sheepishly they had just wanted to watch the sun come up," police spokesman Franz Winkler said. "It looks like they may have to foot the bill for it."

Firefighters put their "rescue" bill at 1,600 euros ($2,000). Police are still counting, he added.

[TexasStooge]

Iran's top cleric orders stadium ban on women kept

By Edmund Blair

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader has vetoed a decision by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to allow women into sports stadiums, a government official said Monday, after the move caused a furor in the clerical establishment.

It marked the first time Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on matters of state in Iran's system of clerical rule, has openly challenged government policy since Ahmadinejad's inauguration last August.

"Iran's Supreme Leader has instructed the government to consider the religious leaders' views and reverse its decision (on letting women into stadiums)," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a news conference.

"The government will act based on this instruction," he said.

Several high-ranking clerics had criticised Ahmadinejad's announcement last month that women would be permitted to watch men compete in sports stadiums for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The president's move had surprised many given his traditional religious background and pledge to restore revolutionary values.

Among those who criticised his decision was Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, a staunch proponent of strict Islamic codes who some analysts see as a mentor of the president.

"The president is a valuable and respected servant of the people, but I think he committed an error," Mesbah-Yazdi was quoted as saying by the students news agency ISNA last month.

Ahmadinejad had said that the best seats in sports stadiums should be allocated to women and families and argued that their presence in public places "promotes chastity."

Initially after the revolution, women were prevented from entering sports stadiums because sportsmen were wearing shorts. More recently officials have said women were barred because it was inappropriate for them to be in crowds where strong language or bad behavior was expected.

Ahmadinejad has been more moderate than many expected on some social issues, and has said that Islamic dress codes should not be imposed by force.

Political analysts said the softer line was probably an effort to avoid alienating any section of the population when the country is under mounting international pressure over its nuclear program.

Such moves were particularly welcomed by the wealthier, urban classes, where Islamic dress codes are often flouted and which are outside Ahmadinejad's core support base.

His main supporters come from the poor and more religiously conservative classes.